Shadowings Part 13

_O-Yoi_ "Evening."

_O-Sayo_ "Night."

_O-Ima_ "Now."

_O-Toki_ "Time,"--opportunity.

_O-Tos.h.i.+_ "Year [of Plenty]."

Names of animals--real or mythical--form another cla.s.s of _yobina_. A name of this kind generally represents the hope that the child will develop some quality or capacity symbolized by the creature after which it has been called. Names such as "Dragon," "Tiger," "Bear," etc., are intended in most cases to represent moral rather than other qualities.

The moral symbolism of the _Koi_ (Carp) is too well-known to require explanation here. The names _Kame_ and _Tsuru_ refer to longevity.

_Koma_, curious as the fact may seem, is a name of endearment.

NAMES OF BIRDS, FISHES, ANIMALS, ETC.

_Chidori_ "Sanderling."

_O-Kame_ "Tortoise."

_O-Koi_ "Carp."[68]

[68] _Cyprinus carpio._

_O-Koma_ "Filly,"--or pony.

_O-k.u.ma_ "Bear."

_O-Ryo_ "Dragon."

_O-s.h.i.+ka_ "Deer."

_O-Tai_ "Bream."[69]

[69] _Chrysophris cardinalis._

_O-Taka_ "Hawk."

_O-Tako_ "Cuttlefish." (?) _O-Tatsu_ "Dragon."

_O-Tora_ "Tiger."

_O-Tori_ "Bird."

_O-Tsuru_ "Stork."[70]

[70] Sometimes this name is shortened into _O-Tsu_. In Tokyo at the present time it is the custom to drop the honorific "O" before such abbreviations, and to add to the name the suffix "chan,"--as in the case of children's names. Thus a young woman may be caressingly addressed as "Tsu-chan" (for O-Tsuru), "Ya-chan" (for O-Yasu), etc.

_O-Was.h.i.+_ "Eagle."

Even _yobina_ which are the names of flowers or fruits, plants or trees, are in most cases names of moral or felicitous, rather than of aesthetic meaning. The plumflower is an emblem of feminine virtue; the chrysanthemum, of longevity; the pine, both of longevity and constancy; the bamboo, of fidelity; the cedar, of moral rect.i.tude; the willow, of docility and gentleness, as well as of physical grace. The symbolism of the lotos and of the cherryflower are probably familiar. But such names as _Hana_ ("Blossom ") and _Ben_ ("Petal") are aesthetic in the true sense; and the Lily remains in j.a.pan, as elsewhere, an emblem of feminine grace.

FLOWER-NAMES

_Ayame_ "Iris."[71]

[71] _Iris setosa, or Iris sibrisia._

_Azami_ "Thistle-Flower."

_O-Ben_ "Petal."

_O-Fuji_ "Wistaria."[72]

[72] _Wistaria chinensis._

_O-Hana_ "Blossom."

_O-Kiku_ "Chrysanthemum."

_O-Ran_ "Orchid."

_O-Ren_ "Lotos."

_Sakurako_ "Cherryblossom."

_O-Ume_ "Plumflower."

_O-Yuri_ "Lily."

NAMES OF PLANTS, FRUITS, AND TREES

_O-Ine_ "Rice-in-the-blade."

_Kaede_ "Maple-leaf."

_O-Kaya_ "Rush."[73]

[73] _Imperata arundinacea._

_O-Kaya_ "Yew."[74]

[74] _Torreya nucifera._

_O-Kuri_ "Chestnut."

_O-Kuwa_ "Mulberry."

_O-Maki_ "Fir."[75]

[75] _Podocarpus chinensis._

_O-Mame_ "Bean."

_O-Momo_ "Peach,"--the fruit.[76]

[76] Yet this name may possibly have been written with the wrong character. There is another _yobina_, "Momo" signifying "hundred,"--as in the phrase _momo yo_, "for a hundred ages."

_O-Nara_ "Oak."

_O-Ryu_ "Willow."

_Sanae_ "Sprouting-Rice."

_O-Sane_ "Fruit-seed."

_O-s.h.i.+no_ "Slender Bamboo."

_O-Suge_ "Reed."[77]

[77] _Scirpus maritimus._

_O-Sugi_ "Cedar."[78]

[78] _Cryptomeria j.a.ponica._

_O-Take_ "Bamboo."

_O-Tsuta_ "Ivy."[79]